PORTRAITS OF DANCERS

This collection of portraits is drawn from four different projects in which I photographed more than a hundred female dancers in Israel, Montreal, Manhattan, and my home. A large part of my work over the years has been photographing women of all ages, and this series extends that interest, exploring the spirit and strength of each dancer.

For three of the projects whose photographs make up this collection, I conceived of a neutral, found background which would allow me to focus on the subject as she expressed herself in a familiar environment. I used only available light, meaning that light quality changes depending on location and time of day, contrasting with the consistent composition of the images. Whether pulled back to show the dancers’ form and strength or close up to relay their mood and character, Portraits of Dancers explores the individuality of women and challenges the sense of uniformity that pervades the dance studio.

For the fourth project whose photographs are part of Portraits of Dancers, I invited individual dancers to be photographed in my home. While these portraits continue with the use of found backgrounds and available light, they stray from an emphasis on neutral, thereby allowing me to delve even more deeply into the individuality of each subject.